Curtains Rise at the Theater of Messene after 1,700-Year Intermission

Bible and archaeology news

The seats of Messene’s grand theater in the southwestern Peloponnese have remained empty since 300 C.E. Long gone are the days when a general from the Achaean league or the king of Macedonia would host events with thousands of visitors. After 20 years of excavation and restoration, the theater will be reopened—as both an archaeological site and a contemporary cultural institution. Excavation director Petros Themelis told the Greek publication Αρχαιολογìα Online, “We want the theater to operate for events, schools, conferences. We want all areas of ancient Messene to operate in a multifaceted manner. We want the whole city to become alive, to be related to society and the institutions.”

The original third-century-B.C.E. theater, which could have hosted up to 10,000 spectators, served as a model for later monumental performance spaces across the Roman world. After the theater fell out of use, entire rows of seats were removed for local construction projects, thousands of which were carefully reunited by archaeologists working on the restoration project. On August 3, the theater will host its inaugural event, featuring performances by the Athens State Orchestra.

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Media

In this lecture presented at The Explorers Club in New York, Sarah Yeomans examines a recently excavated, as-yet unpublished archaeological site that has substantially contributed to our understanding of what ancient Romans did to combat disease and injury.

Exhibits/Events

The Museum of Biblical Art in New York city turns ten this year. In honor of their tenth anniversary, they have organized a stunning exhibit: Sculpture in the Age of Donatello: Renaissance Masterpieces from Florence Cathedral.